Cutting apparatus for mowers.



i F. CRAWFORD. CUTTING APFARATUSFGR IIIOWERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20l IBI?- Patentedept. Il, 91?,

will A SAT@ AENT FRED CRAWFORDVOF PROSSER, WASHINGTON.

CUTTING- APPARATUS FOR" IVIOWERS.

To all'whom t may concern:

Bey iti-known that I, FRED Cnnwronnya citizen of the United States', residing*` at Prosser, in the'fcounty ofiBenton and State of llashington, have invented certain new and useful Iinproveinentslin Cutting Apparatus for Mowers,` of whichthe following is' a specification.

This invention relates to cutting` apparaf-` tus for mowing .machines and harvestersy,V

and-hasfor its Objectthe provision of a cutting :apparatus in whichthe Wear upon the cutter and the finger bar will belminiinized and made even throughout the extent of the parts and also to provide novel means for securingxthe gu'ardflingers'to the nger` bar. A further object ofthel invention is to provide a finger barwhich will belight and strong and also to producea `construction which willl permit ready reinoval'of a broken guardf'iinger rand the Asubstitution of a new `guard' fingertherefor-4v The invention i vis `fully illustrated* lin '.th'e* accompanying drawings, in which: p

Figurel `is a plan view'- of a portion ofl a cutting apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention, parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section ontheline QHQ of Fig..1;

Fig.. 3 is a section onf'the line 3 3 of" Fig. 1;

Fig. #1 is 4a detail. `perspective=.viewof a guardiiinger andthe anchor `bolt bywhichV it is held in the finger bar.

In.carryingfout1ny'invention',"l employ a finger bar 1 'which ispreferably composed of upper anddower websdisposed in parallel relation and connected by a :vertical web 2 at their frearends andfree at their front` ends.` At intervals intherear web 2, I pro# videiopenings :3 through which thelanchorf boltsfor the guard fingersare passed.`r4` i The guard fingers' are provided `withwthe usual tapered bodies 4L "whichiiwhenin operative position proj ectv `forwardly from the f finger bar, `and` are recessed vto receive stationary i knives 5 whichfare `secured to the guard Hn-y gers` by'countersunlrscrews for rivets in the* usual manner and have their rear ends seat# ed in thel `recesses in' thei upper sides of the guard iinger bodies,as'shownat 6 lin Fig. t.' Therearportions of the guard' fingers are l extended `laterally to provide shoulders 7 upon which the reciprocating knives mayA slide and also-to provide vertical shoulders-o1 Specification of Letters Patent.

l `ciprocation` Patented Sept., 11, 1917;`

Serial No. 156,148.

ledges S whichforin the front guidesfor the cutter bar 9. In rear of the vertical shoul# deror ledge S, the surface of the guardf finger is sinooth so as to engage the under 6@ surfaceof the upper web `of the linger bar 1,

a transverse groove 101being forined inthe rear portion of the guardl finger to contain lubricant vor, `if so desired, rollers or balls which aid in supporting the cutter bar 9 and 55 reducing the frictional `resistance to its re- It` will bereadily noted thatA the reary portionll of the guardinger forms an angular tongue which is adapted tdt snugly between the upper and lower" webs 470 of the finger `bar aml'ontheunder side of said tongue is a vertical shoulder-12 which is adapted to bear against the `front edgewof the lower edge of1 the iingcr bar and thereby liinit the insertionbf the guardffnger into the fingerbar.' It willalso be noted thatV the under surface of the' guard finger is iiush witlr'theunder surfaceof the finger bar SO that Ano obstruction to l the` forward travel of the :apparatus is presented?` The ton-guest) 1l is bifurcatedfas shownat 13, to 1 receive the stein or shank 14E of theanchor bolt by which the guard finger is heldinthe finger f bar.I The vertical walls of the bifurcations are flat,1as clearly Ishown in Fig.4e, andsaid1 85 bifurcation opens into an enlarged angular recess 15 which receives the'headlG of the anchor bolt. It will be readily noted that' the forward and side walls of this recess 15 areflatfaced to forni anlangula'r engageL 90 nient Vwith the corresponding surfaces of the head :landthe rear walls of said refr4` cessf or chamber are inclined downwardly and forwardly so aste engage the down` wardly and forwardly inclined-"side portions 17 of the ihead 1G, the vertical dimension or thickness of the head 1G being'the saine as the verticali diinensionV of the tongue 11 so that the upper and lowersurfaces oflfthe headl and shank will lie flush with theupper and low'ersurfaces of the tongue and will' fit snugly `inl between thevupperfand lower webs of the linger bar and thereby be* prevented freni vertical inoveinent relative to the finger fbar: The rear portionlof `the"*` stein'iofthe anchoring bolt is cylindrical,` as shown at=`18,` to project through the open` ing-B `in the .linger barythe extremity of 'said 1 cylindrical portionbeing threaded to receive a nut 19 bywhich the: part-sare firinlyll0 clamped togcthfnl it will be readily understood `that `by turningY the nut l heine against the if'ertical. web of the finger bar a pull is exerted through the anchor bolt upon the tongue 11 of the guard finger so that the saine is drawn within the finger bar until the shoulder 12 engages the front edge of the finger bar, whereupon the parts will be firmly clamped against all relative movement. It will also be readily noted that by removing the nut 19, the guard finger and the anchor bolt may be drawn forward from withinthe finger bar without disturbing the other parts of the apparatus and, therefore, a broken guard finger may be easily removed and a new guardfinger substituted therefor. Moreover, the same anchor bolt may be used repeatedly for successive guard ngers inasmuch as it is not a part of the guard finger but may be easily lifted out of its engagement. with the same after the parts have been removed from the finger bar.

Between the guard ngers, I provide spacing blocks 2O which have rear angular portions fitting closely between the upper and lower webs of the finger bar and secured rigidly therein by bolts 21 inserted therethrough, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. These spacing blocks have their forward edges curved out upwardly, as shown at 22lwhereby they will ride readily over the grass without causing the apparatus to clog and their eXtreme under surfaces are disposed fiush with the under surfaces of the guard fingers, as shown in Fig. 2. The spacing blocks are also provided with transverse shoulders 23 on their under sides which fit againstthe forward edge of the finger bar and in their upper surfaces are transverse grooves 24 which aline with the transverse grooves 10 in the upper surface of the guard fingers. The spacing blocks are also constructed with horizontal shoulders 25 and vertical shoulders 26 which form ways or guidesy for the cutting bar 9 so that the said bar will be positively supported throughout the apparatus and will be caused to run true and evenly when in operation. The cutter bar 9 is rectangular in cross section so as to properly engage the ways or guides in the guard fingers and the spacing blocks, and the knives 27 are secured at their inner ends at the upper side of said bar in the usual manner. i

A wearplate 28 is secured upon the upper side of the finger bar by the bolts 21 and this wear plate is provided at its front edge with a depending lip 29 which fits against the front edge of the upper web of the nger bar and fills the space between said edge and the rear edge of the cutter bar 9 thereby furnishing a guide for the cutter bar and presenting a continuous uninterrupted surface against which said bar may swing and which receives the thrust of the same due to the resistance of the grain tothe operation `of the knives. The wearr upon the cutter bar is, consequently, uniform throughout its length and may be taken up by adjusting the wear plate 28 forwardly, as will be readily understood. To permit said adjustment, the wear plate is provided with slots 30 through which the bolts 21 pass. A keeper plate 31 is also secured upon the finger bar by the bolts 21 and this keeper plate projects forwardly over the cutters and has its front edge extended slightly into the recess in the guard linger through which the cutters play, the intermediate portion of the keeper plate being arranged, as shown at 32, whereby it will be raised out of contact with the inner ends of the movable knives and thereby minimize the frictional resistance to the operation of the same. This keeper plate serves to hold the movableknives close to the stationary knivesso that the'proper cutting action will be attained and also serves to prevent the dropping grain catching upon the knives and being worked into the spaces in the guard fingers provided for the recess so that the cutting apparatus lwill not be easily clogged and the machine may be operated continuously without any perceptible increase in the draft.

The operation and advantages of my iinproved apparatus are thought to be evident from the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and further detail mention of the same is deemed unnecessary. n

Having thus described the invention,

what is claimedV as new is:

1. In a cutting apparatus, the combination of a finger bar, a guard finger having its rear portion inserted within and housed by the finger bar, and an anchor bolt having a. wedging engagement with the rear portion of the guardiinger and housed by the same and the finger bar and extending through and secured in the rear side of the finger bar.

2. In a cutting apparatus, the combination of a finger bar, a guard nger having a flat tongue at its inner end fitting within the finger bar and having said tongue constructed with an angular vertical opening and a bifurcation leading from said opening through the rear end of said tongue, the

rear endV walls of said recess at the sidesl of the bifurcation being inclined, and an anchorbolt having an angular head fitting within said recess and provided with rear inclined ysurfaces engaging the rear inclined walls of the same, and a shank extending through the said bifurcation and secured in the finger bar. i i

3. In a .cutting apparatus, the combination of'a nger bar, a guard nger provided on its under side with a transverse shoulder adapted to fit against the front edge ofthe finger bar and having a tongue extending wedging engagement with said tongue and heid against vertical movement by the finger bar and provided with a threaded stem eX- tending through the rear side of the finger bar, and a nut mounted on' said stem and bearing against the rear side of the finger bar.

4. In a cutting apparatus, the combination of a finger bar, a plurality of guard fingers secured in the finger bar, a plurality of spacing blocks secured in the finger bar between the guard fingers, the front edges of the spacing blocks being convex and the under sides of the spacing* blocks and the 'guard fingers being flush with the under surface of the finger bar, the under surfaces of the Spacing blocks and the guard fingers being provided with transverse shoulders to bear against *the transverse shoulder' of the finger bar and the upper sides of the spacing blocks and the guard fingers being constructed with aiined transverse grooves, a cutter bar slidably seated in the guard fingers and the spacing blocks, and cutters carried by said cutter bar.

In testimony whereof I afHX my signature.

FRED CRAWFORD. [L s] Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

